JOHANNESBURG, South Africa:
South African President Thabo Mbeki announced plans Friday to work closely
with the U.N. and the African Union as he attempts to mediate a settlement
in Zimbabwe.

The plan was applauded by Zimbabwe's opposition, which has
criticized Mbeki as biased in favor of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe,
and called for him to be replaced or work with a second
mediator.

Mbeki met in Pretoria Friday with the top African Union
executive, Jean Ping; an official of the Southern African Development
Community responsible for regional security issues, George Chikoti; and
Haile Menkerios, a special U.N. envoy on Zimbabwe. According to his office,
Mbeki proposed a special group of SADC, AU and U.N. representatives be
formed with which he would talk "on an ongoing basis." The statement said
the parties agreed to set up the so-called reference group.

Mbeki
would remain the main mediator trying to find a solution to Zimbabwe's
deadly political crisis.

George Sibotshiwe, a spokesman for the
Zimbabwean opposition, told The Associated Press that the plan announced
Friday met his group's demands that Mbeki be joined by another
mediator.

Sibotshiwe said the step announced Friday could open the way in
coming days to agreement on a framework for power-sharing talks between his
Movement for Democratic Change and Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, "because the AU
has a role in, and because the United Nations has a role in it as
well."He said he expected Ping and Mbeki to visit Zimbabwe as early as
Monday.

SADC appointed Mbeki more than a year ago to mediate between
Zimbabwe's political factions.

Since then, Mugabe ignored a previous
agreement Mbeki help broker and announced an election date without
consulting with the opposition.

Movement for Democratic Change leader
Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe and two other candidates in that March vote,
and his party won control of parliament and local councils.

Official
results did not give Tsvangirai the simple majority needed to avoid a
presidential runoff. He at first agreed to participate in a second round set
for June 27, but pulled out days before the vote because of wide-scale,
state-sponsored violence against his supporters. Mugabe went ahead with the
vote, keeping Tsvangirai's name on the ballot and declaring himself the
overwhelming winner.

Mbeki's mediation efforts are now aimed at
forming a coalition government. Both the opposition and Mugabe's party say
they are open to sharing power. But while ZANU-PF says Mugabe should lead
any coalition, Tsvangirai's party insists Mugabe should have no role in the
country's political future.

Mugabe, in power since independence from
Britain in 1980, is accused of hanging onto the presidency in recent years
through fraud and violence, and of destroying the economy.

At a
meeting in Durban Friday, Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Miranda said the
Zimbabwe crisis threatened the unity of the Southern African Development
Community. Some members of the regional group have been sharply critical of
Mugabe as well as of Mbeki's mediation efforts, while others have kept to
the tradition of African leaders refraining from criticizing one of their
own.

"The situation of the republic of Zimbabwe is undoubtedly very
complex," the South African Press Association quoted Miranda as saying at a
ministerial meeting of the regional bloc's security committee. "It is our
duty to defend and fight for the unity of our organization."

A small
group of Zimbabweans wearing white shirts splattered with red ink staged a
protest near Durban's International Convention Center before the conference
started, SAPA reported. One of the protesters signs read: "A Brave Africa
can Save Zimbabwe."

Zimbabweans protest ahead of SADC conference

A small group of Zimbabweans staged a protest near Durban's
International Convention Centre before a Southern African development
Community (SADC) conference started in Durban today.

The SADC
Ministers of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security are expected to
meet and discuss several issues, including the "post electoral situation in
the Republic of Zimbabwe."

The small group held up a number of posters,
including a banner which read: "A Brave Africa can Save Zimbabwe." All the
protesters were wearing white shirts splattered with red ink.

The
SADC ministers are to discuss Interstate Defence and Security Committee
(ISDSC) issues, particularly on progress made by the police, defence, public
security and state security sectors. They will also discuss the SADC Brigade
that was launched on August 17 last year, and the launch of the Regional
Early Warning centre scheduled for December 2008. Malawi's political
situation and the security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
are also expected to be included in the topics.

South Africa's
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said in a statement released
earlier today: "The SADC Ministers are expected to prepare a report for the
Chair of the Organ, Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who will then
present it to the SADC Summit scheduled for August in South Africa for
consideration." - Sapa

Talks on Zimbabwe should be
on who goes to The Hague first

Mmegi, Botswana

Friday, 18 July 2008

TANONOKA JOSEPH WHANDE

ZANU-PF and the
two factions of the MDC are meeting in South Africa again.

Can
anyone believe these people? For a long time now, they have held these
"talks about talks" to find a way of agreeing on what to talk about while
people are being killed by one group participating at these talks. I think
they are all just glad to be out of Zimbabwe and being somewhere where, in
addition to their stipends, everything is available. The fact that they are
unable to build on what they agreed upon in previous meetings is an
indication that someone is playing games and is attempting to fool the world
into thinking there is a chance through negotiations.

And if there is
anyone who thinks Mugabe, Chinamasa and the ZANU-PF lot are at these talks
to negotiate themselves out of power then they need to have their heads
examined.

"ZANU PF has manifested an incredible catalogue of acts of bad
faith," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said. "They have clearly shown that
they are not willing to be serious about the negotiations." We could have
told the MDC of this little detail, especially since they agreed to attend
these talks while violence continues to be perpetrated on innocent people.
The MDC accepted discussions when they are under duress and to now make
demands at the table is not going to achieve much, especially from
ZANU-PF.

ZANU-PF knows exactly what they are doing and what they want
while the MDC is forced to react and to complain about this and that.
ZANU-PF knows how to bog down negotiations.

Meanwhile, its propaganda
machinery has gone into overdrive and is trying to portray Mugabe as
reasonable and conciliatory by backing the formation of a Government of
National Unity (GNU) and releasing MDC people who should never have been
arrested in the first place. If talking is to be a way out, the discussions
should only be centered on the issue of the establishment of a transitional
government and not on a government of national unity. How can national unity
be born when, instead of showing contrition and stopping killing innocent
people, ZANU-PF keeps the pressure on by continuing to kill innocent people
so that it can be said that some form of agreement will have to be reached
to save lives? And that kind of agreement will most certainly favour those
committing the atrocities. The perpetrators of violence are being given
leeway to dominate a GNU and to continue with their evil ways only this time
it will be worse because Mugabe and his murderers will go after the GNU
colleagues in much the same way they did with their erstwhile compatriots
during and after the war of liberation.Close the doors on these people for
goodness sake!

If we agree that something is bad, why do we keep
postponing its removal? What kind of reforms can be implemented or take root
while being carried out within a violent atmosphere, when people cannot
express their true wishes and when a government is on the rampage, killing,
abducting and arresting members of the political group that they are
supposed to be negotiating with?

I support the stand taken by the
civic society of Zimbabwe which came out in support of a transitional
government vis-^-vis a GNU. Mugabe and ZANU-PF must not be treated as
authorities nor should they be given an advantage over those who actually
won the election. The fault with a GNU is that it elevates and keeps those
who lost and those who continue to harm our citizens. A line has to be drawn
and a transitional government is the only other alternative, unnecessary as
it may be, because it pushes everybody back a distance and says, "On your
marks..."

Let's see how Mugabe would run on a level playfield, under fair
conditions and in the absence of violence.

Mugabe can only win under
lopsided conditions when murder, blackmail and violence reign. This is why
Zimbabweans refuse to accept Mugabe as the winner of not only this past
'election' but of several others before that.

The issue of power sharing
is a non-starter. Establishing a power-sharing government is just the same
as planting a ticking bomb under the nation of Zimbabwe. We cannot believe
that members of a power-sharing government will be equals in any way. Some
will start as people's favourites already while others will start out as
'those people who murdered mom during the past elections'. Others will
distinguish themselves well and prove that ZANU-PF has no decent, able
legislators, thereby arousing deadly jealousy from the less able and less
popular ZANU-PF members of the GNU.Friends, I am talking about what I
know.

Do we not recall how violently Mugabe, Ignatius Chombo and ZANU-PF
bigwigs reacted when Harare elected engineer Elias Mudzuri as the first MDC
mayor several years ago? Suddenly, garbage that had piled up for decades
started disappearing on Harare streets. Rapidly, potholes the size of
swimming pools started disappearing. Mugabe was particularly incensed when
the new MDC mayor patched up the road leading to State House before any
other roads.

The success of MDC mayors across the country caused a witch
hunt that resulted in the government removing all MDC mayors and installing
lazy stooges who knew nothing about civic duty.

We have been there
before and we cannot go back there. A GNU is meant to trick us and let
Mugabe and his murderers keep a foot in the door so that these cannibals can
feast on us later.

The army and the police, whose loyalties to Mugabe and
ZANU-PF are more personal than professional, will continue taking sides like
they have done since 1980. Were it not for them, the constitution of
Zimbabwe could have saved and protected its citizens like it was meant to
do. Now we don't have a constitution and we are being asked to incorporate
into a new government those rejected by the people precisely because they
not only abused the constitution but killed defenseless people and continue
to do so.

Zimbabwe needs a better solution, one that banishes Robert
Mugabe and his murderers to the deepest ends of oblivion. Never again should
they be allowed to negotiate their presence within even a thousand miles of
state power. Forget about Mbeki, he is as much responsible for the deaths as
Mugabe is. Mugabe should never be tried for genocide without Mbeki as his
co-accused. We cannot accept a GNU at any cost. What will the world think
and will it ever come to our rescue again if we agree to incorporate into
government unrepentant genocidal people, especially now when they continue
with their evil ways against us the very people who are supposed to give
these talks the thumbs up?

The MDC must be reminded that people are
still nursing their wounds, with many still digging graves for their loved
ones who continue being murdered by the people they are "negotiating"
with.

Being part of a GNU with Mugabe and his executioners will make the
MDC sterile and render it totally impotent to be of any use to the people
who have courageously stood by it even in the face of deaths caused by the
very people they are sitting with at that table.The negotiations in
South Africa should be about who goes to The Hague first. Nothing more.

Zim situation 'threatens' SADC

IOL

July 18 2008 at
07:10PM

The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) unity
and cohesion is being "fragilised and threatened" by the ongoing electoral
impasse in Zimbabwe, Angolan foreign minister Joćo Bernardo de Miranda said
on Friday.

Miranda, opening a meeting in Durban of SADC Ministers
of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, said: "The situation of the
republic of Zimbabwe is undoubtedly very complex."

He said the
fact that there were "many interpretations" of the outcome of Zimbabwe's
recent election meant that the "unity and cohesion of SADC is
fragilised.

"It is our duty to defend and fight for the unity
of our organisation."

The SADC Ministers of the Organ on
Politics, Defence and Security are expected to meet and discuss several
issues, including the "post electoral situation in the Republic of
Zimbabwe".

Miranda also said that the SADC had failed to implement
the "univisa", which should have been implemented by 2008 to allow citizens
of SADC countries to travel through the region with one visa.

The ministers are expected to discuss
Interstate Defence and Security Committee issues, particularly on progress
made by the police, defence, public security and state security
sectors.

They would also discuss the SADC Brigade that was launched
on August 17 last year, and the launch of the Regional Early Warning Centre
scheduled for December 2008.

Malawi's political situation as
well as the security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
were also expected to be included in the topics.

Earlier in the
day, a small group of Zimbabweans staged a protest near Durban's
International Convention Centre before the conference started.

The
small group displayed a number of posters, including a banner which read: "A
Brave Africa can Save Zimbabwe".

All the protesters were wearing
white shirts splattered with red ink.

South Africa's Foreign
Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said in a statement: "The SADC Ministers
are expected to prepare a report for the Chair of the Organ, Angolan
President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who will then present it to the SADC
Summit scheduled for August in South Africa for consideration."

De Klerk: Zimbabwe at
'point of no return'

Friday, 18 July 2008 14:49Former South African
President FW de Klerk says Zimbabwe has reached a point of no
return.

Mr de Klerk said no negotiation would succeed unless it was based
on the result of the general election which put the former opposition party,
with its coalition, into the position of a governing party.

'Any
effort to impose President Mugabe as an executive president on a parliament
in which he does not have a majority can't be an acceptable democratic
solution,' the former president said.

AdvertisementMeanwhile, South
African President Thabo Mbeki and the African Union's top permanent
official, Jean Ping, are to discuss the crisis today.

Talks in Harare
stalled after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai refused to sign a
framework for negotiations.

Both Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change and the ruling ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe are under
pressure to negotiate.

Diplomats in Brussels said the EU is expected to
agree to widen sanctions on Zimbabwe, including more travel bans and asset
freezes on Mr Mugabe's inner circle and measures against firms linked to
him.

Zanu-PF
desperate for Tsvangirai signature

HARARE - Pressure yesterday mounted on MDC-T leader
Morgan Tsvangirai to commit himself to the ongoing inter-party talks
following his last-minute decision to withhold his signature from a
Memorandum of Understanding setting the agenda for dialogue between his
party, Zanu-PF and the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC faction.

The First
Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe, yesterday said Tsvangirai had proved beyond all
doubt that he was serving the wishes of the West.

Addressing thousands of
people at Mupandawana Grow-th Point in Gutu, where she donated agricultural
machinery and food hampers, Amai Mugabe said Tsvangirai should be ashamed of
being an unrepentant puppet of the country's erstwhile
colonisers.

She reminded Tsvangirai that the talks were a result of the
ruling party's determination to resolve the country's
problems.

Traditional leaders and churches urged Tsvangirai to commit
himself fully to dialogue saying this was the only way the current
challenges could be addressed.

"The refusal by Tsvangirai to sign the
MoU is a sad development in our country. It is unpatriotic and 'un-African'.
By not committing himself, it means he wants to see the suffering of our
people go unabated. Nyika vanhu, zvino kana vakafa nenzara unozovatonga
sei?" said President of the Chiefs' Council Chief Fortune
Charumbira.

"Pachivanhu chedu, chero parufu chaipo vanhu vanotaurirana
even if emotions are high. Talking is an element of adequate emotional
intelligence."

Chairperson of the Heads of Christian Denominations,
Bishop Goodwill Shana, urged politicians across the political divide to put
self-interests aside.

"Our appeal to politicians is that we need
solutions to our situation urgently. Things are not looking good for the
people and there is need to put aside our narrow interests," he
said.

The Mutambara-led MDC faction urged negotiators in the inter-party
dialogue to have faith in South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is
facilitating the inter-party talks.

President Mugabe, Mutambara and
Tsvangirai were expected to sign the MoU in Harare on Wednesday.

In
an interview yesterday, the spokesperson for the Mutambara-led MDC faction
Edwin Mushoriwa urged negotiators to have faith in President
Mbeki.

"There is no option to the Zimbabwean crisis besides dialogue. We
remain hopeful that reason will prevail and all political parties would
commit themselves to the talks," he said.

"Our position is that the
facilitator is not the person who makes things happen. We have no problems
with President Mbeki. A mediator is different from an arbitrator. President
Mbeki is just a facilitator, and solutions should come from Zimbabweans
themselves. We should continue with the negotiations being facilitated by
South Africa."

Mushoriwa was hopeful the MoU would soon be signed to pave
the way for fully-fledged talks.

Political analyst Dr Tafataona
Mahoso said after winning the June 27 presidential election run-off, Cde
Mugabe

should appoint a new Cabinet.

"People are waiting for him
(President Mugabe) to appoint a new Cabinet. If he (Tsvangirai) does not
want to sign, from the position of the people as reflected on June 27, he
can get lost in the Dutch embassy."

"They are trying their level best to
defeat the progress of mediation so that Britain will say 'Look, no
mediation . . . so what? Let's use sanctions'!"

Moyo accused British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown of trying to frustrate President Mbeki's
mediation thereby destroying the Sadc-initiated dialogue and have a basis to
impose more sanctions on Zimbabwe.

"Brown appears so convinced that
(President) Mbeki will fail and that leads me to believe he will use
Tsvangirai to scuttle the mediation. There is enough evidence already that
Tsvangirai's group is not co-operating. Britain is angry with (President)
Mbeki also, they want him to have egg on his face. It is clear the British
strategy is to go back to the UN via the road of failed mediation, and
people must wise up to this challenge. People must understand where
Tsvangirai's instructions are coming from."

In comments to the Star
newspaper in Johannesburg, Tsvangirai confirmed he had not yet put his
signature to an agreement but wanted to wait until African Union Commission
chairman Mr Jean Ping met President Mbeki in Pretoria today.

"It is
not that we are refusing to sign, but that the processes need to be
tightened," he said.

Tsvangirai has been pushing for greater
involvement from the AU, but South Africa this week said the issue of an
additional mediator was fake and a media creation.

"It is a fake
issue . . . I don't know of any formal position on this, except in the
media," South African Deputy Foreign Minister Mr Aziz Pahad told a Press
briefing in Pretoria on Tuesday.

He was speaking soon after Zanu-PF and
the two MDC factions had already met on Monday and agreed on the
MoU.

Mr Pahad there had been no indication - to his knowledge - that an
additional mediator was needed.

An additional mediator was diverting
from the fundamental issue that talks were ongoing.

"I don't believe
that any new body . . . simply to be sitting there is what is
required."

Mr Pahad said he had been given no proof to substantiate
claims that an additional mediator was needed, allegedly because President
Mbeki was taking sides.

He said earlier reports that Mr Ping was
arriving in SA for an "urgent meeting" were not true.

"There is no
emergency. If there was an emergency Ping would have been here last
week."

President Mbeki will meet with Mr Ping today. However, this is
part of a constant briefing to liaise on any progress made in talks to
resolve the Zimbabwe issue, said Mr Pahad.

On Tuesday South Africa
described as "unacceptable" suggestions by a US ambassador at the United
Nations that President Mbeki was "out of touch" regarding Zimbabwe's
issue.

"The extraordinary and unacceptable statements made will be taken
up through diplomatic channels," Mr Pahad said.

"A British
representative said South African mediation efforts had come to nought and
we have achieved nothing," he added.

"The US representative made remarks
about Russia not being a worthy member of the G8 and suggested that
President Thabo Mbeki is out of touch with his own country.

"These
are not acceptable statements and we will take it up with those
governments."

The United States last Friday launched a scathing
attack on President Mbeki after Pretoria's UN envoy voted against more
sanctions against Zimbabwe at the United Nations Security
Council.

"We are surprised by what appears as (President) Mbeki appearing
to protect (President) Mugabe," US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad
said.

"I think he (President Mbeki) is out of touch with the trends
inside his own country." - Herald Reporter-Sapa-AFP.

Zim farmers case may force SADC to act

By Tererai KarimakwendaJuly 18,
2008

A SADC Summit, due to meet in South Africa in August, could find
itself confronted with a serious decision to make regarding one of their
member states, Zimbabwe. Lawyers representing the Zimbabwe government walked
out of a hearing at the SADC Tribunal in Namibia on Thursday, after a group
of Zimbabwean farmers asked that the government be held in contempt, for
breaching an interim order granted by the court in December,
2007.

The order stipulated that the government would not interfere with
the farmers' operations and would halt evictions until their case has been
heard. Yet several farmers on the case have been evicted since then and
others are being beaten and harassed by government-sponsored
thugs.

Lawyer Jeremy Gauntlett, representing a group of 78 Zimbabwean
farmers and their farm workers, said this was the fourth time the Tribunal
had tried to hear arguments in the case. He explained that Thursday's
hearing was again plagued by delaying tactics by the Zimbabwe government
lawyers.

The head of the Tribunal, Judge Louis Mondhlane of Mozambique,
appeared clearly upset by their behavior. He is quoted as saying: "The
Tribunal had allowed the government of Zimbabwe several postponements. It
has formed the view that the government was seeking at all costs to postpone
these applications, and this while the Tribunal was trying to build a house
of justice in the region."

Gauntlett appealed to the court to refer
the case to the SADC summit due to take place in South Africa on August 15.
He said if the Tribunal judges find the Zimbabwe government in contempt and
present this to SADC, the regional leaders will have to decide on punitive
measures on Zimbabwe as a member state. This could mean sanctions or
expulsion from the regional grouping.

The government's lawyers were led
by the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Namibia, Chipo Zindoga. She had been
overheard earlier laughing about the brutal attack on farmer Ben Freeth, who
was recently abducted along with his in-laws by known government thugs, and
was brutally assaulted and tortured for hours before being dumped miles from
their homes. Ironically it is evidence from this incident that she laughed
about that ultimately made the contempt case against the Zimbabwe
government.

The 78 farmers are challenging the government's so-called
land reform policies, saying that they discriminate according to race. They
are also challenging Constitutional Amendment # 17, which the government
introduced to deprive the farmers of their legal right to challenge
evictions in court. Farm workers and their families are also represented in
the Campbell case because they are being evicted, beaten and harassed by the
government's youth militia and so-called war veterans.

Another MDC activist dead in Buhera

By Violet Gonda18 July 2008

38
year old Reuben Muteke who was abducted and severely tortured soon after the
controversial one-man election run off, has died from his injuries. A
relative of the deceased, Thomas Mapfumo (not the musician), said Muteke was
abducted from his home four days after the run-off in Buhera's Chief
Nyashanu area and brutally tortured at Bedza torture base, by armed ZANU PF
militias.

Mapfumo said his uncle was bludgeoned with axes and iron
bars by the militia, led by a councillor called Patrick Chimbare. Many
villagers were assaulted in the area during the run-off
election.

It's reported the longtime branch chairperson for the MDC
sustained deep cuts, internal injuries, broken legs and ribs. He was left
for dead after the assault and was taken to Murambinda Hospital, where he
died on Saturday.

He is expected to be buried in Buhera on
Saturday.

Pishai Muchauraya, the spokesperson for the MDC in Manicaland,
confirmed the death but we could not get a comment from the police in
Mutare.

The MDC say the official figure of activists who died as a result
of political violence is over 115, but in reality could be more than 500.
The party's organizing secretary, Elias Mudzuri, said recently; 'They simply
abducted people, tortured them, killed them and disposed of the bodies
either in shallow graves or just left them in the bush. The government knows
better the number of people it has killed, but it's unfortunate they might
not disclose the figures."

Pre-dialogue talks are underway between
the main political parties but violence and arrests of opponents are still
continuing. The police raided the offices of the Zimbabwe Civic Education
Trust (ZIMCET) and the Catholic Development Commission in Gweru on
Friday.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition reported that the ZIMCET
director and NANGO Midlands province representative Peter Muchengeti was
also arrested during the raid on the ZIMCET offices. The Coalition said
documentation relating to victims and perpetrators of political violence was
confiscated at both offices.

Meanwhile, the situation in Gokwe is
still tense. It's reported state security agents were still manning Gokwe
General hospital and denying medical treatment to injured MDC
activists.

A
journalist runs for his life

The persecution of independent Zimbabwean
journalists is hotting up by the day. The latest victim is a friend and
one-time colleague of mine. I shall call him Brian. For some years Brian has
supplied western and local media with revealing and accurate news about the
evils of the Mugabe regime. This is his story:

Things began to go bad
for me back in May. I received a call from a police superintendent, a friend
of mine based in my home town of Bulawayo. He warned me not to enter any
police premises. He told me an order had been issued to the Police Internal
Security Intelligence (PISI) to have me arrested on trumped-up charges of
theft of police property.

He said: "You will be arrested and beaten until
you admit the charges. You will also be taken into custody if you are seen
covering a public demonstration. They will say you were a part of
it."

Some time later I received a call from another police contact, a
superintendent in Harare. He told me my name was now on a top ten hit list,
issued by the Joint Operations Command (JOC) to all squads.

My source
told me: "They've been told not to waste time arresting you. Just abduct you
and beat you to death. You must lie very low for now."

Then yet another
source told me that a Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) squad of two
men and a woman had been despatched from Harare to find and abduct
me.

Soon after that friends began telling me that strangers were asking
questions about my movements - where I hung out, which internet cafes I
used, even where I sat when watching football matches.

Then I began
receiving strange calls on my cell phone. The callers promised me a major
scoop about the attempted assassination of a top Mugabe man, if I would
agree to a meeting. I wasn't tempted.

Finally my best friend, who is also
a CIO agent, called me. He said he had been given the job of pinning me
down, and would phone my house later that day to officially check that I was
there. He told me to make sure my wife answered the phone. She should
pretend to be in tears, with a story that I had been abducted in an unmarked
vehicle just hours before.

This my wife did, very convincingly. But I
knew it was time to go into hiding. I sent my family to a rural area, and
lived with friends, frequently changing addresses. I also visited some
traditional faith healers in Bulawayo. They all told me I was in danger, and
gave me concoctions to repel any assailants.

One said to me: "You are
to be killed tonight. Do not return to where you are staying. Your friend
there has betrayed you."

(He was correct. Later I spoke to the friend,
who told me he had been beaten until he admitted that I was staying with
him.)

It was clearly time to go. Next day I boarded a minibus and headed
for the border with Botswana. Amazingly, actually leaving Zimbabwe was no
problem. I passed through all controls easily. Apparently even in
over-policed Zimbabwe the left hand still doesn't know what the right hand
is doing.

My wife and family have now joined me in Botswana, and soon we
hope to move on to South Africa. I may not be able to live in my own country
any more. But I hope we can all live without fear soon.

Report reveals horror of Zim
torture

From The Cape Argus (SA), 17 July

By Hans Pienaar and Angela Quintal

Assaults with
hot metal rods at torture bases, hoe handles, iron bars and hammers were
among the case studies collected by the Pan African Parliament's observer
mission as election violence continued in Zimbabwe after the run-off
presidential vote on June 27. Extracts from the report were made available
yesterday to the Independent Foreign Service by Suzanne Vos, a member of the
PAP (Pan African Parliament) mission. She said the report was from people
with whom the mission had made contact in all the provinces in Zimbabwe. It
was consistent with many other reports relating to post-election violence
that the observer mission had received, Vos said. The report contains names,
places and details of the injuries, all suffered by Movement for Democratic
Change members who were mostly office bearers. The mission's final report on
the elections will be tabled at the next plenary sitting of the PAP starting
on October 13.

A squash attendant from Glen Norah said he was beaten
with burning firewood after a sack had been pulled over his head. Zanu PF
youths took him to their base where they continued beating him for two days,
so severely that he cannot hear in one ear anymore and cannot remember what
happened to him. Several others also lost track of time and place while they
were beaten for hours on end. They were victimised for their known MDC
affiliations, on suspicion of having voted for the MDC, and in one case,
after an argument with elderly women supporting Zanu PF. A tax consultant
from Tsigo Kraal described how he was taken from a funeral by a mob to a
Zanu PF base and beaten with burning logs while blindfolded. Upon his
release the victim "had to give them $140 billion which was money collected
at the funeral. Three goats were also demanded".

One victim was
told to give up her MDC regalia and forced to wash the dishes at a youth
militia base. "The victim . was instructed to take her ID and go to the
nearest polling station . in the custody of (a) youth. She was instructed to
state at the polling station that she was blind and to have someone vote for
her. She complied." A farmer from Tewede said: "After the votes, there were
alleged to be six votes for MDC." He and his wife were accused of voting for
the MDC and assaulted "with pieces of hose pipe, logs and sticks". Some
victims resisted. A polling agent from Norton recounted: "War vets and Zanu
PF had taken two weeks looking for us, playing hide and seek . until they
caught up with me after presidential elections. Eight Zanu PF youths caught
me and beat me with electoral code (sic) on the body and booted me on the
legs and heels. I later escaped after I overpowered one of the members who
was guarding me. I slept in the bush until I sought help." A man from
Budiriro said he had been walking home when three Zanu PF youths questioned
him about his MDC T-shirt and assaulted him. His injuries were "severe". The
Zimbabwe government could not be reached for comment last night.

Braving peril to reach South Africa

The
Limpopo river is a formidable obstacle to Zimbabweans planning to cross in to
South
Africa

To escape a life of abject poverty in Zimbabwe, Anton
Givasa, 22, made an attempt to cross the 225-kilometre Limpopo River into South
Africa.

"The situation in Zimbabwe is very tough. You can't even afford to buy food
or clothes. It's serious," he told Al Jazeera.

"If I stay I will die; I will starve."

Food shortages and inflation in Zimbabwe have led to a steep rise in staples
- a loaf of bread now costs Zim$75bn ($7.50).

Givasa left his parents' family home in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, at
nine in the evening and travelled for 15 hours, making one stop to buy some
peanuts, in the darkness of a truck's trailer with 11 strangers.

At the Limpopo River, a natural border where those seeking to sneak into
South Africa have to negotiate not just the water but also razor sharp security
fences and a criminal gang, Givasa met the maguma guma.

Criminal gangs

Members of the maguma guma gang "help" hundreds of "border jumpers" who try
to illegally cross into South Africa every day.

They bypass immigration by paying off Zimbabwean security officers and assist
jumpers to cross the river on the underside of a disused train bridge, at the
Beit Bridge border crossing.

On the South African side of the border they cut holes in the three barbed
wire fences.

Using mobile phones to alert one another, they wait in the bush until army
and police vans patrolling the border have passed and give the signal for
jumpers to run through to the other side.

This is all for a negotiated price – Givasa paid R120 (US$16) to the maguma
guma, plus another non-negotiable R70 ($9.30) to pay off soldiers and security
guards.

For those who do not have any money or do not take the maguma guma's
"assistance", the consequences can be dire.

The maguma guma, a group of Zimbabwean men numbering in the hundreds, are
known for stealing from, raping and killing those who do not use their
"services".

Beatings

Tinashe, 27, had planned to cross the border by himself.

The
maguma guma use various weapons to intimidate and kill

"On the Zimbabwean side I walked down
some steps to the river's edge. Six men came up to me.

"They then beat me on my arms with knives," he said, lifting his jersey to
reveal large red swellings on his upper arms where the weapons had hit but not
penetrated.

Donald, who repairs fences along the border, said "wherever there is a point
where people cross there is a maguma guma with guns and other weapons".

"They cut people's feet off and leave them dead in the river. I have seen
people coming over naked and with injuries."

Corpses in the water

Those jumpers who evade the maguma guma try to swim across the river
border.

Even if they are strong enough to traverse the crossing which is 200m wide at
some points, they still have to be wary of the crocodiles that lurk below the
water's surface.

Not surprisingly, there are many accounts of corpses in the water.

Despite the dangers, South African troops, speaking to Al Jazeera on
condition of anonymity, say that there are too many people trying to cross the
border for them to handle.

The situation in Zimbabwe elicits sympathy from security officials.

One soldier said that he sees between 60 and 100 border jumpers a day. He
signals with his hands that he will arrest only 10 of them who will be taken
back to Zimbabwe.

After reaching the South African side, jumpers may hide before making their
way to roadsides for pre-arranged pick ups or run the 3km to the South
African border town of Musina where they can negotiate a lift to bigger
cities.

Stable existence

They hope for a more stable existence there, but that often fails to
materialise.

A
border fence has been broken through by people crossing into South
Africa

Darshan Vigneswaran,
co-ordinator of the migration policy initiative at the University of
Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said "their prospects are pretty grim".

"It depends on what skills they have and how long they can evade the law.
They do domestic work and construction, for example. The conditions are terrible
and they are horribly exploited, working for very little," he told Al
Jazeera.

Vigneswaran said the fact that the immigrants provide cheaper employment than
locals "creates a lot of legitimate problems between them and South
Africans".

This was demonstrated in the xenophobic violence around the country in May,
in which 62 people died. South African gangs burned foreigners' homes and beat
them – blaming them for adding to crime and unemployment – leaving hundreds of
thousands of people displaced.

In Musina, however, Loumo, a local waiter said that although there are a few
who dislike the foreigners' presence "lots of people help them with food and
clothes".

But if they are caught by the government, they are often sent back.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said last week that South Africa
had sent 17,000 asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe in the previous 40 days.

"The only Zimbabweans who are getting asylum are those who come into contact
with the UNHCR or our partners," Camilla Kragelund, the head of the UNHCR's
office in Musina, said.

International law

The UNHCR says that those seeking asylum should have access to South Africa's
internationally guaranteed asylum policies, which are supposed to ensure that
people will not be returned to danger or possible persecution.

Siobhan McCarthy, the chief director for communications at the Ministry of
Home Affairs, said that the government was only adhering to the national
immigration act.

"In terms of refugees we are obliged to review their cases and our reception
centre is choc-a-block," she told Al Jazeera.

"The challenge is that a lot of people from Zimbabwe do not fit the refugee
and asylum criteria which is narrow under the UN convention."

However, McCarthy said that the cabinet was reviewing its procedure, as "the
current policy isn't seen as efficient, in that it doesn't address the issue
that people are coming in quicker than they are being returned".

There are presently more than 138,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers
in South Africa from various nations.

Vigneswaren says that the real number is "anyone's guess".

He said that in 2006 South Africa deported more than 250,000 people, mostly
from near the border.

"My hunch is that the total figures have increased quite dramatically over
the past few years and mostly from Zimbabwe."

Mothers and children

The UNHCR says that there is worrying trend of increased numbers of mothers
and children crossing the border since Zimbabwe's general and presidential
elections in March.

Zimbabwean dealers loading
trucks with goods to take back to their country

This was said to have worsened after a
subsequent crackdown on opposition supporters and the June 27 presidential
run-off.

The opposition led by Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off, saying
government crackdowns on the opposition made fair elections impossible, leaving
Robert Mugabe to win unopposed.

Although the UNHCR has said that these refugees are fleeing political
violence and upheaval in Zimbabwe – and there is significant testimony to that
in and around Musina – what Zimbabweans complain about most now that the
elections are over is hunger.

The scores of pick-ups and trucks loading up basic goods, such as oil, sugar,
flour and toilet paper in Beit Bridge in South Africa is a good indication of
the shortage in Zimbabwe.

Dealers drive from Zimbabwe to pick up goods for sale back home, or charge
those with passports for trips to buy essential goods.

Others walk across the border and back with what they can carry.

One civil servant who had walked from the Zimbabwean border said: "People
have nothing to eat. There is nothing there."

Protection permits

Malusi Gigaba, the deputy minister for home affairs, recently said increased
border management was required to combat illegal immigrants.

ZANU-PF
militia on the rampage in Manicaland Province

Attack on Luke Chipiro
(Manicaland) Luke Chipiro aged 60 is the MDC chairman for
Chitinha Branch. Hewas abducted from Nataniel Mutetwa's house on June 24,
2008 by two soldiers,four youth militia in police uniform and a police
Inspector Gwasela ofNyanyandazi police station. He was taken to Nyanyadzi
Police Station andhanded over to militia and taken to the torture camp at
Nyanyadazi TrainingCentre. He was assaulted by a number of militia including
Mbuya Nehanda,Crispen Mhlaba, Joe Zvinya, Crosswell Mugombi, Mai Chabuda and
many youthsfrom Chaimiti. Luke was beaten all over his body but mainly his
back forseveral days. He was transferred to Mutambara Village, another
torture base.He boarded a bus for Mutare on July 14, 2008 and is admitted to
hospitalwhere he is recovering.

Additional Violence
Report:

Fungai Sithole (old man in picture)
from Nyanyadzi held under housearrest for three days and beaten and
tortured. Not sure who by because hewas so traumatised he was incoherent. I
got this info from the hospitalrecords. He needed extensive physiotherapy.
He was beaten all over but hisleg was worst of all. He had a very large
bruise on his head.

Jesse Sazukwa, 19 months old, from Meikle Farm.
House was burnt byMuniya the "owner" of the farm aged over 50 and a youth
called Takawandafrom ZANU PF. The information came from her mother. Jesse
had malaria soactually the experience may have saved her life because she
was taken fromthe MDC provincial offices to SASU and paid for by Armani
Trust.

Success Changadeya, three weeks,old, she had pneumonia from
sleepingoutside after her house was also burnt at Meikles Farm. She was also
broughtin from Provincial headquarters.

Crispen Rambo, a car
washer from Chipinge town. Taken 3 am. JosephChiminya Head of CIO in
Chipinge, in official vehicle, and a gang arrived athis house and broke the
door down. They beat him and hit him on the headwith a piece of angle iron.
They took him in the official vehicle 40 kmsfrom town to a place called
Holland. They beat him again and left himunconscious. He came around at
around 6 am and then started walking andwas rescued by a well wisher who
recognised him as a victim. The well wisheris called Givemore Salani. He
took Crispen to the MDC offices in Chipinge.Crispen was brought in to Mutare
and admitted at SASU.

Daniel Simango aged 24 was stabbed in his
left eye. On March 30 he wascelebrating the victory of Mathias Mlambo in
the Musirizwi area of Chipingeand he was attacked by 4 Zanu PF youths from
Chipinge East. Noblit Muhluagastabbed Daniel in the eye. Daniel was also
beaten but he ran into hiding inMozambique until he came to Chipinge and
went to the MDC offices. He wasbrought into the hospital at the same time as
Crispen. He has beendiscahgarged with Crispen and I have lost touch with
them.

Fungai Nyakunika

House burnt down and he was
taken to Chikobvore school in Nyazura andbeaten for three hours by Norbert
Kuwanda about 55 years old and a war vetand a fellow by the surname of
Dangirwa, first name not known, but he is asoldier from Rusape. His kidneys
failed from the beating and he neededdialysis, There was no suitable fluid.
This was sourced from Medicienes SansFrontiers.

He was in the
Clinic for five weeks. His wrist was very badly brokentoo and he was
suffering from the emotional trauma. We are very good attreating medical and
physical needs but the mental trauma is appalling.When admitted, he had
massive bruising on his upper and lower back, buttocksand under the feet and
internal bleeding as he was bleeding from his rectum.He was hit on the
forehead and had extensive soft tissue injuries consistentwith assault by a
solid object. He was an Agricultural extension officerbut since fired and
is working at the MDC Provincial offices.

People's Shops Will Fail

HARARE, July 18 2008 - The Arthur Mutambara
camp of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the People's Shops
launched by President Robert Mugabe this week will only benefit ZANU PF
card-carrying members.

Renson Gasela, the Mutambara
camp deputy information and publicity secretary, said ZANU PF was using the
People's Shops to politicise food distribution.

Gasela
predicted the idea of People's Shops would be a monumental
flop.

"These so called shops will also fail like everything
that this so-called government has tried to do," said
Gasela.

The government is selling basic commodities at these
shops, which are supposed to be launched nationally, at ridiculously low
prices.

"How are they going to sell these basics? Who will
qualify to have coupons? Clearly, the way limited maize has been made
available in the rural areas, that is using ZANU PF structures, is exactly
the same way that these basics will be sold. They will be available only to
their members and also those who will join in order to survive," he
said.

Zimbabwe is grappling with a serious shortage of maize
meal, the stable diet of the majority of its 12 million population, and
basic commodities such as cooking oil, salt, sugar and bread. The World Food
Programme estimates that about 5,1 million people, both in urban and rural
areas, would be queuing up for food handouts by October this year.

Food Aid Plan "Noble but
Unsustainable"

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

President Mugabe promises to make cheap food available to all
- but where will he get the money to pay for it?

By Mike Nyoni in
Harare (ZCR No. 155, 17-Jul-08)

President Robert Mugabe this week
launched an ambitious programme to provide subsidised food to millions of
hungry Zimbabweans, but there are questions about whether his government can
bear the cost and whether the distribution process will be
fair.

According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, the Basic
Commodities Accessibility Programme will provide hampers containing enough
maize meal, baking flour, cooking oil, bath soap and salt to last a family
of six for one month.

The programme will also subsidise boarding
schools, clinics and household expenses using a coupon system.

Most
of the goods on offer under the scheme have disappeared from the formal
market and can only be bought at exorbitant prices on the black
market.

The hampers will retail at 100 billion Zimbabwean dollars, ZWD.
At the moment, unregulated street traders are charging this sum for one loaf
of bread. A 75 centilitre bottle of cooking oil will be valued at 12 billion
ZWD compared with the current street price of 150 billion.

On July
17, the official exchange rate was 25.4 billion ZWD to the American dollar.
Illegal street traders are offering closer to 75 billion to one.

Reserve
Bank governor Gideon Gono said the Gono said the government programme would
show manufacturers that "goods can be produced and sold to people at
affordable prices and still make a profit".

Yet most of the goods in
hampers seen by IWPR were not produced in Zimbabwe, but imported from South
Africa. The financial burden of importing these items has led some analysts
to warn that the scheme could make the economic situation even
worse.

Zimbabwean leaders are clearly suggesting that the shortage of
goods is a result of profiteering by businesses, and has nothing to do with
the government's own macroeconomic policies.

"We want to confront
market failure with market instruments. which will deal with market
indiscipline by way of profiteering and side-marketing at the expense of the
real consumer," said Gono.

In what has come to typify Mugabe's strained
relationship with the private sector, he used the launch to threaten
business executives who are "in the habit of exploiting the masses" with
arrest if they failed to hold down the prices of basic commodities to
benefit the poor.

"There are other ways of getting them to heed the
message, but behind doors and behind bars," he warned.

In June last
year, the government launched a campaign to slash prices, ordering
businesses to adhere to a pricing structure set by the authorities and
arresting businessmen who resisted.

It was a vain attempt to address the
country's inflation problem, but instead it resulted in panic-buying which
cleared shop shelves, and the closure of many retailers and manufacturers.
In summer 2007, the year-on-year inflation rate was around 4,500 per cent.
This week, Gono said the rate had reached 2.2 million per cent, although
some economists put it much higher.

An aid agency official based in
Harare said the government would not be able to sustain the low prices
because it lacked the foreign currency to fund imports. He also said it was
wrong to be importing finished products rather than buying in cheaper raw
materials and thereby stimulating Zimbabwean manufacturers.

"This is
the most shocking yet programme for this illegitimate government," said the
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, as his agency has just been
allowed to resume distribution of food on a very limited basis.

"How can
they import finished goods when local industry is operating at less than 15
per cent capacity due to a shortage of foreign currency to import raw
materials? Olivine Industries and National Foods have all but stopped
producing oil because they can't get foreign currency from the Reserve Bank.
So where is the money coming from to import the same products from South
Africa?"

The aid official said the fact that grassroots leaders such
as chiefs and village headmen would decide how the hampers were distributed
left the programme open to corruption and discrimination. In particular, the
government's recent record on food policy suggests that anyone perceived to
be a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, rather
than Mugabe's ZANU-PF, could be excluded.

"This would be a noble
project if it was sustainable," he said. "Unfortunately it is not. It will
soon be hijacked by party officials and it might be hard for MDC supporters
to access the hampers, especially if everyone is required to produce
[ZANU-PF] party cards. In the end, it shows you that there is no substitute
for local production."

THE Attorney-General's Office has warned
the business community against charging for basic commodities and other
services in foreign currency, saying the practise was illegal.The AG's
warning came in the wake of reports that a majority of businesses were
demanding payment for goods and services in foreign currency."The
Attorney-Generals Office has recently become aware that several providers of
goods and services are demanding payment from their customers either in
foreign currency or in kind," said the AGs Office in a statement.The
Attorney-General's Office said the practice, that has extended to the
payment of property rentals and institutional subscriptions, defies the
Reserve Bank Act which states that Zimbabwean banknotes constitute legal
tender for any payment made within Zimbabwe.The office said payments in
foreign currency are governed by the Exchange Control Act and Regulations,
which criminalises dealing in foreign currency without the approval of an
authorised dealer."The Reserve Bank Act makes it abundantly clear that the
tender of a banknote issued by the Reserve Bank constitutes legal tender for
any payment made within Zimbabwe," said the AG's Office.The Attorney
General's Office warned that no businesses or individuals should decline to
accept payment in Zimbabwean banknotes as demand for payment in foreign
currency without the approval of an authorised dealer is illegal and liable
to prosecution.Most businesses and institutions, like schools are demanding
payment in foreign currency.The illegal practice has spread to domestic
workers, prostitutes, faith healers and even flea market traders who are
also demanding foreign currency or the equivalent in Zimbabwean
dollars.

BASIC goods acquired through the National Basic Commodities
Supply Enhancement Programme have started arriving in some districts where
they will be distributed to villagers at affordable prices.In
Matabeleland North, truckloads of food were expected to arrive in Binga and
Bubi districts yesterday while basic commodities had also been dispatched to
other provinces countrywide.Speaking in an interview yesterday, the Governor
of Matabeleland North Province, Cde Sithokozile Mathuthu, confirmed that the
commodities were expected in Bubi and Binga, adding that the distribution
modalities have already been worked out.In a separate interview, the
Provincial Administrator for Matabeleland South Province, Mr David Mpofu,
also said they were expecting the basic commodities although he was not sure
when they would arrive in his province."We are expecting the goods to arrive
and we want to ensure that they get to all households. Chiefs and other
traditional leaders will play a big role in distributing the food because we
want to ensure that they get to all households. We have already compiled a
database showing the number of households in each ward and village so that
everyone benefits," said Cde Mathuthu.She said all districts would
receive their allocation of the basic commodities but they chose to start
with Binga and Bubi so as to monitor the distribution system.The
Governor expressed optimism that the programme would go a long way in
fighting the black market while also ensuring that life in the rural areas
becomes more affordable.Cde Mathuthu said the country's enemies were
using prices as one of the weapons to fight the Government, but with basic
commodities being available at affordable prices, the enemy would be
defeated."We want to defeat the enemy by ensuring that everyone gets the
basic commodities. If we do that, even the black market will become a white
market. People are turning to the black market because basic commodities are
not available on the formal market but if they become available then no-one
will buy from there," she said."For people in rural areas, they will
receive the goods in their villages, so there will be no need for them to
board expensive transport to get into town and then buy from expensive shops
and the black market. They stand to benefit a lot."Cde Mathuthu said
most of the goods would be sold directly to the people in their villages
while others would be sold from people's shops.The consumers will have
cards, which are stamped when they buy to ensure that no-one benefits more
than once from the one allocation.The Officer Commanding Police in the
province, Senior Assistant Commissioner Edmore Veterai, said the police
would monitor the movement and distribution of the goods to ensure that they
are not diverted. "We will monitor the movement of the trucks and ensure
that once they reach their destination, they are emptied and everything is
sold to ensure that there is no pilferage. We will ensure that the programme
is not abused," he said.The programme was officially launched by President
Mugabe in Harare on Wednesday, with a warning that people who will abuse the
programme would be jailed.The President said the era of unjustified
price increases had come to an end following the launch of the
programme.And a project http://www.zimfa.gov.zw/zim/maguta.htm
is being phased out as something untold obviously went wonky

OPERATION Maguta/Inala will soon be phased out as the Government is
concerned about the number of complaints from farmers with the manner it is
being run, the Minister of Agriculture, Cde Rugare Gumbo, revealed
yesterday.Addressing councillors of the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU) at
the farmers' organisation workshop at Vashandiri Study Centre in Mkoba,
Gweru, Cde Gumbo said Maguta/Inala teams were wrapping up their work for the
winter season and would not participate in preparations for the summer
crop.Operation Maguta/Inala was started about four years ago."My
Ministry has received a number of complaints from farmers and other
stakeholders on the manner Maguta is being managed. This is the last season
that farmers will be working with them. We are phasing out Maguta/Inala.
They are just completing their work for the winter season. We will go it
alone for the forthcoming summer season," said Cde Gumbo.He said his
Ministry was working on modalities to ensure that Operation Maguta/Inala
teams would in future, work with ARDA which had a number of large estates
that were underutilised."We are putting in place measures for the Maguta
teams to work with ARDA, which has a number of large estates. Some of these
estates are underutilised," said Cde Gumbo.He could not be drawn into
disclosing the nature of complaints that his Ministry received concerning
Operation Maguta/Inala.He, however expressed his gratitude to the
Maguta/Inala teams and other Government assisted programmes meant to restore
the country's status as the breadbasket of the region.Cde Gumbo took a
swipe at farmers for forming splinter unions instead of working together for
a common goal."There are just too many farmers' unions in the country.
Proliferation of farmers union does not help. You need to work together and
be united so that you improve production and the food situation in the
country," he said.Cde Gumbo said following the successful farm mechanisation
programme by the Government, there was no reason for the country to fail to
boost food production when other countries that were not mechanised were
doing well."We can learn a lot from Malawi. The farmers there do not have
farming implements, they use their hands. They do not even have silos but we
are buying maize from them," he said.Cde Gumbo said the farm
mechanisation programme faced many challenges in its initial stages of
implementation resulting in some undeserving farmers benefiting from the
scheme."Farm mechanisation programme is a good programme but some of the
beneficiaries are not capable of using them. We erred in the distribution of
these implements as we did not sit down with stakeholders like ZFU and
Arex," he said."People are abusing the tractors given to them to
increase production on the farms. I hear there are tractors that are being
used for carrying beer (scuds) while others are being used to pirate. This
has affected the programme of farming."Cde Gumbo said following the
incessant and unevenly spread rains during the 2007/2008 season, there was
need to replan and come up with ways of utilising the country's water bodies
to boost irrigation schemes."We have a lot of water bodies in the country.
We need to revamp," he said.Farmers briefed the Minister during question
time on the need to reduce the number of players who are involved in the
distribution of inputs and implements as certain individuals were benefiting
from all schemes at the expense of others."There are farmers who get
seed and fertiliser from Maguta, GMB and get loans from Agribank while
others have nothing. There are no clear systems to plug these
loopholes."We need coordination. There should be a single entry point that
helps identify and vet beneficiaries. GMB, Maguta and Agribank are working
in isolation," said one of the farmers.Others called for the scrapping
of visa requirements for farmers willing to travel to South Africa to
purchase chemicals and other inputs for their farms.The farmers also
bemoaned the producer prices of their produce, saying the little amounts
paid to them was proof that farmers were not taken seriously.

Woza 14 Remanded to Trial on 26 Aug 08

THE 14 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) who had been
arrested on 28 May during a peaceful procession were remanded to trial on 26
August in Harare Magistrate's Court yesterday morning.

Passports that
had been confiscated as part of bail conditions were returned and all
reporting conditions were removed. The trial was to have been held on 29
July but was postponed as the State was not ready.

On 15th July, two
members charged with distributing materials likely to cause a breach of the
peace in Bulawayo Magistrate's Court were remanded to 16 September as, once
again, the State was not ready to proceed to trial.

CAMEC on top of list as Zimbabwe opposition seeks to
review concessions, MDC official says

Financial Times

By Peter Semler

Published:
July 18 2008 15:08 | Last updated: July 18 2008 15:08

This article is
provided to FT.com readers by mergermarket-a news service focused on
providing actionable, origination intelligence to M&A professionals. www.mergermarket.com-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Movement
of Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's main opposition party, will conduct a
wide-ranging review of existing concession licences and ownership issues
when and if they come to power, MDC Treasurer Roy Bennett told mergermarket.
Speaking to this news service from Johannesburg, Bennett said that the MDC
review could lead to the withdrawal of natural resources concessions and
possibly the confiscation of assets.

Bennett said that the MDC has
already identified a number of companies that it plans to target and that
AIM listed Central African Mining & Exploration Company (CAMEC) is on
the "top of the list." Bennett also said that the MDC is still preparing the
list of both government-linked and private companies that it would target
once in power.

CAMEC chief financial officer, Andrew Burns, and its
external spokesman declined to comment on the possible revocation of its
concession license in Zimbabwe.

Once in government, Bennett said that
the MDC will revoke the mining concessions granted to CAMEC by the
Zimbabwean government and than resell the concession rights through an open
tender process. He said that he has not yet held talks with companies
interested in acquiring the assets and concession rights held by
CAMEC.

In April, CAMEC acquired Lefeyer from Zimbabwe Mineral Development
Corporation (ZMDC) for USD 5m, 215m CAMEC shares and an agreement to invest
USD 200m into the operations over an 18 month period.

Lefeyer holds a
60% stake of Todal Mining, which operates the Bougai and Kironde claims,
which had formerly belonged to Anglo-American affiliate, Anglo
Platinum.

Bennett also said that companies operating in Zimbabwe, such as
Anglo-American, should put all their planned investment or operations "on
hold" until a new government is in place.

An insider familiar with
Anglo-American said that the company has in fact put its planned USD 400m
investment in developing the Unki Mines mostly on hold, and that it is only
investing in the upkeep and maintenance of the projected platinum
mine.

The insider also said that the company is confident that it will
not lose concessions at Unki in case of regime change in Zimbabwe and that
any new government would want to keep international investors such as
Anglo-American in the country.

The insider also said that there would
be a line of buyers for Unki, possibly from Russian and China, should
Anglo-American pull-out.

A market observer said the question of ownership
rights in Zimbabwe should also have a significant impact on listed companies
in the country, especially in the banking sector. The observer said that
run-away inflation in Zimbabwe has "deformalised" the banking sector in the
country.

"Companies Cutting Ties Will Hit Average Person Most"

IPSnews

By
Tonderai Kwidini

HARARE, Jul 18 (IPS) - As state violence in Zimbabwe
worsens, economists in the capital Harare have warned that cutting
international economic ties with the country will hit the average person the
hardest.

Statistics from the collapsing southern African country's
ministry of finance released in May 2008 showed that Zimbabwe is in a dire
foreign currency situation. Export receipts declined from 2.2 billion U.S.
dollars in 2000 to 1,7 billion U.S. dollars in 2006 to 1,5 billion U.S
dollars last year.

Following the disputed elections earlier this
year, labelled by many African, European and American leaders as a ''sham'',
the demand for further sanctions against Zimbabwe has grown
louder.

German company Giesecke & Devrient was pressurised to stop
supplying the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) with special paper used to
print Zimbabwe's bearer cheques. These are a form of promissory note
introduced to try and deal with the country's rocketing inflation
rate.

British retail giant Tesco also announced that it was to stop
sourcing fresh beans and peas from Zimbabwe as long as the political crisis
continued.

Moves by these international companies are part of the latest
measures by western governments to put a squeeze on President Robert Mugabe,
who stands accused of imposing himself as leader on Zimbabweans amid
escalating state violence.

The poll was judged by observers from the
African Union, Southern African Development Community and Pan-African
Parliament as not free and fair.

Tesco's decision not to source farm
produce from Zimbabwe will hit small private businesses in the agricultural
sector the most. Giesecke & Devrient's decision will affect the
procurement of much-needed food, fuel and other essential imports, John
Robertson, a Harare-based economist, told IPS.

''As usual, it is the
consumers, not the political culprits, who will bear the brunt,'' he
said.

But Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono sought to allay
fears in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, saying the cutting of
the supply of bank paper will create hassles but ''there is no need to
commit suicide. We are basically prepared for anything that comes our
way''.

It is believed that the government will turn to China for the
procurement of paper.

Despite the latest turn of events, several
British companies are still doing business in Zimbabwe.

According to
company records at the deeds office in Harare, these include Standard
Chartered and Barclays Bank, British American Tobacco (BAT), British
Petroleum (BP), Rio Tinto and Falcon Gold (Falgold).

U.S. firms such as
Chevron and Coca-Cola and some Canadian mining firms are still operating in
Zimbabwe, although their scale of business has drastically been
reduced.

South African companies still active in Zimbabwe, include Anglo
American Corporation, which has interests in agro-industry and mining;
Impala Platinum; Metallon Gold; Standard Bank, whose Zimbabwean subsidiary
is Stanbic; and Old Mutual, which is involved in real estate and
insurance.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is reported to be considering
pulling out of Zimbabwe.

Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial power,
is still the largest foreign investor in Zimbabwe, according to a study done
by London-based analysts Ethical Investment Research
Services.

British investment fund LonZim said in a notice last month that
it will continue putting money into Zimbabwe to finance new
investments.

Zimplats, majority owned by Implats South Africa, also
weighed in with reassurances, saying it will continue developing its
platinum mining assets in Zimbabwe and playing its role in rebuilding the
economy for the benefit of the people.

Among Zimbabweans there is an
argument that some of these firms have become predators in that they are
prepared to suffer losses, hoping that once political settlement is reached
they will gain.

But Luxon Zembe, a Harare-based economic commentator,
described the moves by international firms to cut ties with Zimbabwe as
unfortunate as they will only worsen the plight of ordinary
Zimbabweans.

''Right now the economy is operating at about 10 percent of
its capacity. Cutting economic ties will have negative implications as it
will result in a direct loss of goods and services and employment and will
affect the country's gross domestic product negatively.

''The
solution to our crisis is purely political. Politicians in this country have
to sort out the mess before the economy can start taking off again,'' Zembe
told IPS.

He said politicians in Zimbabwe have failed by not respecting
fundamental human rights.

''There is no company in the world that can
invest in a country where there is no respect of people's rights. As long as
there is no respect for human life, our country will remain in this mess,''
added Zembe.

John Makumbe, a political analyst and University of Zimbabwe
lecturer, argued that companies were justified in pulling
out.

''ZANU-PF politicians have failed to run the country by not ensuring
stability for the economy. Right now there is a need for the politicians to
accept their mistakes. The denial mood will not help us now,'' said
Makumbe.

In recent years, gross domestic product has fallen while
inflation has soared. Zimbabwe's economic growth figures were -4.4 percent
in 2002, -10.4 percent in 2003, -3.2 percent in 2004, -4.3 percent in 2005
and -4.7 percent in 2006, according to figures from the International
Monetary Fund's African Development database, published on August 30,
2006.

Although official figures from the Central Statistical Office (CSO)
put the country's inflation at 165,000 percent, some analysts believe that
it is now well over two million percent.

Wages are not keeping pace
with inflation. Barter trade has become increasingly common. Much trade is
done on the thriving black market where even basic items are now being
priced in South African rand or U.S. dollars. (END/2008)

The
Peoples' Sanctions

As always the case, what needs to be done in
Zimbabwe and elsewhere is handed down to us from the top and we apparently
have no say in our fate. The failure of the African Union to find the moral
courage that their citizens so emphatically want to see, once again
disappeared like a puff of smoke over the flames of international anger
against an arrogant tyranny out of control.

As if the UN was not lame
enough already, the Chinese and Russian governments used our suffering to
play one-upmanship (amongst other reasons of self-interest) against the
United States' putting forward a simple Security Council resolution, calling
for an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, the appointment of a U.N. mediator, plus
travel and financial restrictions on Mugabe and 13 top military and
government officials for blatantly stealing the Zimbabwe election before a
disgusted world. Then again they are merely upholding the right to crush
their own people when the need arises.

As far as Thabo Mbeki's dubious
leadership is concerned when whites persecute blacks, no number of U.N.
sanctions are too many. And when blacks persecute blacks, any number of U.N.
sanctions are too many. We have never doubted his role in the
plot.

And so things remain the same, or maybe not.

They seem to
have forgotten that there is a Postscript to our destiny and that lies not
only with the disenfranchised people of Zimbabwe but the ignored masses of
the region. They are us and we are them and that solidarity has already
shown (through the refusal to dock the Chinese arms ship) how it can be
effectively used to empower our will against the travesty of injustice
inflicted on our brothers and sisters by the brutal illegitimate ZANU
regime.

South Africa's trade union federation, COSATU, has already taken
a lead in this by mobilising solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in their
struggle for democracy and human rights through conferences, demonstrations,
specific boycotts and workers' pressure.

This struggle has many
fronts and if we believe, that we in the Southern African region deserve
better and have been abandoned, then our consciences needs to arise above
our leaders' failure and serve notice to the Mugabe regime through our
individual actions. We can identify those in the Zimbabwean government and
beyond who perpetuate and perpetrate intimidation and violence on the
population and hold them accountable by isolating them through our actions
beyond the country's borders.

Whether it may be:. Refusing to serve
them at airports, hotels, restaurants, and shops.. Notifying the press and
progressive organisations of their presence.. Expose those with whom they
conduct business.. Making sure no more arms reach the regime.as well as
countless other ways to let them know that they are culpable for the misery
they have inflicted on the Zimbabwean populace who have democratically
rejected them and deserve change.

They need to be held accountable and if
the likes of the Russia's and China's of this world don't think so, then
they should take note that Peoples' Sanctions are ready to be
deployed.

Some of the region's leaders may muffle our voices but our
spirit can be manifested through our actions to reflect what we believe is
right and wrong. By consolidating our efforts, progressive organisations
could and should take the lead and work collectively to inspire and
disseminate information under the common theme of Peoples'
Sanctions.

It is imperative that our dissatisfaction with the political
impasse over the tragedy of Zimbabwe be known and acted on. We have it
within ourselves to speak up against those who profit through fear and
oppression for the sake of humanity and our children's future.

As an
African proverb reminds us, 'when spiders' webs unite, they can tie up a
lion'.

A letter from the
diaspora

http://www.cathybuckle.com

18th July 2008

Dear Friends.Today July 18
is Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. A musician celebrating the occasion in South
Africa was interviewed on the BBC this morning. He was asked what quality it was
that made Mudiba so universally loved and admired. Unhesitating, the answer came
back, 'His humility.'

Think of South Africa and you think of Mandela and
smile; think of Zimbabwe and you think of Robert Mugabe and weep. Yet their ages
and backgrounds are not so different. Both men have suffered imprisonment, both
men have fought unjust colonial regimes but there the resemblance ends. In fact,
the contrast between the two could not be greater: Mandela's warmth and charm
come over even on camera. You feel better just to see that beautiful smile; such
grace and dignity emanate from the man that youngsters the world over who were
not even born during apartheid love and admire him. His sympathy for young
people and children is manifest in everything he does. Of course, he has faults,
he is human after all but it is that very humanity that earns him the world's
love and respect. It is the very opposite quality in Robert Mugabe, his
inhumanity towards his own people, that has earned him the world's
revulsion.

For me as a former teacher and trainer of teachers, the one
story coming out of Zimbabwe this week that most shocked me was the account of
war veterans going systematically from school to school in Lupane (Mat North)
ejecting children from their classrooms, not because their parents had not paid
their school fees but because they were MDC supporters. These pro-Mugabe war
vets say they will not rest until all children whose parents support the MDC
stop attending 'Zanu PF schools' Could there be any greater evidence of Mugabe's
inhumanity? To deprive children of their basic human right to education because
of their parents' political allegiance is utterly inhuman. Anyone supporting the
opposition is, in Mugabe's eyes, less than human and therefore not worthy of
human rights. His thuggish war veterans and Youth Militia have totally swallowed
Mugabe's philosophy; no surprise then to hear of the involvement of foreign
mercenaries assisting them in the unrelenting violence in the country. The story
steadily gaining credence is that a certain Major Portrais Mpiranya, a Ruandese
'genocidaire' on the run from the ICC has been given refuge in Zimbabwe along
with 4000 Hutu refugees. This week certain men have been spotted in Manicaland
alongside Zimbabwean militants carrying out the brutal attacks on civilians. The
'strangers' as the local people describe them, speak neither Shona nor Sindebele
nor English. They travel with interpreters who give them their orders and their
methods are brutal in the extreme and include gouging out eyes, burning buttocks
and genital mutilation. The question has to be asked: Have the dreaded
Interahamwe come to Zimbabwe and more to the point who is paying them for these
crimes against humanity being committed in the name of Mugabe's 'Final battle
for control'? Thugs have to be paid, more money has to be printed and, as surely
as night follows day, inflation continues to rise.

This week the reserve Bank Governor himself announced
that inflation in the country had risen to 2.2 million %. In response Robert
Mugabe launched his National Basic Commodities Supply Enhancement Programme. At
the televised ceremony Mugabe announced the programme would put an end to
profiteering and 'would bring basic goods to the people at affordable prices.'
Pictured in the Herald, the goods were displayed in dear little baskets
strangely reminiscent of the sort of 'krisimus bokis' that Rhodesians used to
dole out to their employees once a year. But this was presidential magnanimity
and each basket contained, so the Herald reported, cooking oil, laundry and bath
soap flour and mealie meal to the value of Zim$ 100 billion, the price of a loaf
of bread presently. It goes without saying that the first port of call for
Mugabe's munificence is the rural areas where the chiefs and headmen will be in
charge of distribution. These same chiefs who have sold their souls to Mugabe in
exchange for cars, generators, and lord knows what other benefits will have yet
another opportunity to demonstrate their loyalty to Mugabe by carefully
excluding opposition supporters from his benevolence. Once it was the colonial
masters who exploited the traditional rulers in a policy of 'divide and rule',
now it is Zimbabwe's first and only black president as he still considers
himself to be. Speaking at the ceremony to launch this rescue of the economy,
Mugabe said this intervention was 'part of efforts to bring relief to the people
while measures were being taken to revitalise the productive sector' Exactly how
dishing out food hampers is going to achieve this miracle is not clear. Where
have all these goodies come from anyway? Inflation, Mugabe claims, is the fault
of illegal sanctions, Britain wants regime change so that they can continue to
exploit the resources that Zimbabwe is endowed with. (I thought the Chinese had
already done that!)

More than anything else that Mugabe said at the
launch of his food hampers, one particular remark caught my attention. Speaking
of profiteering which he blamed along with sanctions for inflation and high food
prices, Mugabe said, 'We do not want people behind bars…we would want our
prisons to be empty than full but, alas, just now they are brimful and we do not
know what to do' There is one thing he could do. Release the thousands of MDC
activists and supporters from gaol and halt the violence, that just might help
to persuade the MDC that Robert Mugabe still has some remnants of humanity left.
What Zimbabwe desperately needs right now is a gesture of good will from Robert
Mugabe. Then the current talks about talks might really lead on to a
representative government. Yours in the (continuing) struggle. PH Click here for your copy of Countdown
by Pauline Henson aka PH

South African company faces illegal importation charges in Zim

By Alex
Bell18 July 2008

South African company, Globecast Satellite, whose
two employees were acquitted of reporting on the March elections without
accreditation, is now being charged with the illegal importation of
broadcasting equipment.

The company's technicians, Sipho Maseko and
Abdulla Gaibee, were acquitted by an Harare magistrate after they were
arrested on March 28th for contravening the Information and Protection of
Privacy Act. The pair was rearrested outside the court under the premise
that the ruling was not "proper", but the men were later released in
April.

Globecast is now in a court battle to prove it was not in
violation of Zimbabwe's Broadcasting Services Act, after it was invited to
the country to provide a satellite uplink during the controversial March
elections.The court heard on Tuesday that Globecast used its satellite
uplink to air an interview done by CNN with the Minister of Information and
Publicity Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, without the knowledge of Zimbabwe's
Transmedia Corporation, who provided Globecast's operating
licence.

Acting Chief Executive for Transmedia, Cloud Nyamundanda, told
the court that Globecast was in breach of the contract with his corporation
as they provided the satellite uplink in the absence of an engineer from
Transmedia. He also argued that Globecast started transmitting a day before
their contract allowed them to.

Globecast managing director, Melanie
Gibb told Newsreel on Friday that the charges came as a surprise because the
company has "worked with Transmedia on several occasions for other elections
and sporting events" and the contract over the March elections was the same
as previous working agreements. She said she was concerned because the "CEO
we usually deal with has not been heard of or seen since the elections" and
the group has no working history with the acting CEO,
Nyamundanda.Nyamundanda, during Tuesday's court proceedings, failed to
explain how Globecast would have known that they were not supposed to
commence transmission services before the 28th March when it had not been
communicated to them.

The trial is expected to continue on 22nd July
when more witnesses, including the Minister of Information and Publicity,
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, are expected to give evidence.

Treat Zim leaders as equals, diplomatic
Annan tells Mbeki

From The Star (SA), 18 July

Fiona Forde and Hans Pienaar

Pressure is
mounting on President Thabo Mbeki to negotiate a speedy settlement in
Zimbabwe, with Kofi Annan calling on him to accept the Zanu PF chief and his
MDC counterpart as equals. And church leaders from Southern Africa yesterday
called for immediate sanctions on Zimbabwe. "Robert Mugabe and Morgan
Tsvangirai must be able to enter into a dialogue on an equal footing, as two
leaders," Annan, the former UN secretary-general, said last night. He was
speaking at Unisa in Pretoria, where he received an honorary doctorate in
literature and philosophy. Progress can be made only when the conditions are
right, Annan told the gathering. He said he was speaking on behalf of The
Elders - a group that includes Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and former US
president Jimmy Carter - in calling "for a speedy and robust mediation to
resolve the political crisis" and to put an end to "this crisis of
governance, as human lives and livelihoods are at stake".

Annan also
called for an end to political violence and said "the current interim
Zimbabwean government must meet its responsibility to protect its citizens".
He also appealed for the release of political prisoners. Despite putting
pressure on Mbeki to negotiate a speedy settlement in the interest of all
Zimbabweans, Annan did not criticise Mbeki for his efforts thus far, or
appeal for African Union bodies or envoys to aid him in his efforts. In a
careful turn of phrase, he said: "The mediation effort should have but one
master: the Zimbabwean people. And they in turn should know that they have
the support of the international community. They do not stand alone." His
words were delivered on the eve of Mbeki's meeting with AU Commissioner Jean
Ping, who he was expected to brief on a memorandum of understanding that was
scheduled to be signed on Wednesday, but to which Tsvangirai refused to lend
his signature at the eleventh hour. The Movement for Democratic Change
leader has said the document is flawed and biased and that the MDC will not
sign it until they are satisfied that Ping has been fully briefed on its
contents.

Church leaders from across the region were less
gracious yesterday when they called for an extra mediator to be deployed to
the talks, and demanded that sanctions be imposed on Zimbabwe. In a petition
signed by several dozen leaders, they also called for Robert Mugabe's
government to be condemned as illegitimate. In a scathing attack on Mbeki,
the document appealed to him to refrain from "making any statement that
might be perceived to compromise his impartiality" as chief facilitator.
They also demanded that Mbeki recognise the "extreme urgency" of the
situation, and use his influence to halt political violence, which they
attributed to "state-sponsored intimidation". The leaders advised Mbeki to
listen to a wider range of voices, in a more honest and transparent
mediation process. The petition came at the end of a four-day special summit
on Zimbabwe by Southern African churches in the reformed tradition. It was
sponsored by the SA Council of Churches.

The last athlete to join the team is United States based
long jumper Ngonidzshe Makusha.

The long jumper's monstrous
leap of 8.30m in the long jump finals on 12 June booked a team ticket into
team Zimbabwe. The 27-year old athlete, who set a national record, is now
ranked the sixth best long jumper in the world, after his giant leap at the
NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium, in Des Moines, Iowa. Irving
Saladino from Panama is the world's number 1 long jumper. He jumped 8.73m on
24 May.

The Zimbabwe team is set to be officially unveiled on
Friday night. The guest of honour is Minister of Education, Sports and
Culture Aeneas Chigwedere.

Local sporting apparel maker
Faithwear will clothe team Zimbabwe. The company unveiled Z$300 trillion
clothing sponsorship of the team in Harare on Thursday.